Beach Mullet

the Beach Mullet is a modified version of Bob Popovics’ Hollow Fleye designed to match the hatch during south Florida's legendary mullet run. I use a technique that Popovics called the BULKhead to provide the correct profile and buoyancy to allow the fly to suspend near the surface with a floating line or hover off the bottom with an intermediate line; key attributes of a productive mullet run pattern in my experience. previous versions of the Beach Mullet used a spun deer hair head for this purpose but the reversed BULKhead of the current version provides a better profile, more durability, and better balance in the air and the water.

the Beach Mullet has evolved significantly since I started tying it a decade ago but this version has produced more fish, is easier to cast, and lasts longer than all of the others.. this fly belongs in every Tarpon and Snook fisherman’s box whether you fish the beach or not. tied about 6” long on a #2/0 Gamakatsu SL12s.

$20.00

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design details

closeup details of the bulkhead hollow fleye technique used in the Beach Mullet tarpon fly by Two Aught

the Beach Mullet incorporates a reverse BULKHead style head; a technique developed by Bob Popovics to produce a bulky profile that pushes water with minimal material to facilitate accurate casting

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a closeup photo of the Beach Mullet tarpon fly by Two Aught resting on it’s corresponding page in my fly tying journal

history of the Beach Mullet

when I first moved to Florida many years ago I didn’t have a skiff or even a canoe but I’d dreamed about fishing the mullet run since I was a kid reading my grandfather’s old Florida Sportsman magazines. I stalked the beaches north of Miami every weekend for a month with little to show until a dead calm morning in late August when I walked across the dune line and saw a sight that changed my fishing life.

schools of mullet swirled in dark clouds down the beach as far as I could see in both directions. the dark lines were interrupted every 50-100 feet by neat round holes which I quickly learned marked the location of fully grown tarpon, snook, and black tip sharks. at regular intervals the ocean would explode in a shower of mullet followed by the backs of jacks and snook or the entire bodies of giant tarpon flying through the air.

that morning fueled a passion for beach tarpon and the mullet run in general that has dominated my fishing calendar for more than a decade. the first version of the Beach Mullet was an mashup of different patterns in an attempt to apply the lessons I learned that day. I knew I wanted a fly that would roughly imitate the profile of a mullet while being close to neutrally buoyant so I could fish it near the surface with a floating line or just off the bottom with an intermediate. that first stab combined a synthetic fiber tail with a tightly packed spun deer hair head. over the intervening years I’ve tied and tested dozens of versions of the Beach Mullet with varying success. at the tail end of the 2024 season I started tying a version based on Bob Popovics’ hollow fleye and saw a marked improvement in casting distance and accuracy.

today’s Beach Mullet is version 3 and it’s carefully crafted profile and purpose-driven material choices are the result of over a decade of on the water testing each beach season. this version is hands down the best mullet run fly I’ve ever fished. this fly belongs in every tarpon and snook fisherman’s box whether you’re fishing the beach or not.